Leading global fiduciary and administration services provider Estera has announced the acquisition of Headstart S.a.r.l, a specialist corporate and trust services business in Luxembourg.

The transaction paves the way for Estera’s expansion into Luxembourg, one of world’s most important jurisdictions for funds and corporate services, while also broadening the company’s offering in corporate, fund and trust services.

Headstart’s Managing Directors, Christophe Gaul and Manuel Mouget, will continue to lead the business. The company, whose clients include private equity and real estate firms, institutional clients, corporates and high net worth individuals, will rebrand to Estera in September 2017.

Farah Ballands, CEO of Estera, said: ‘Headstart’s people and client focused culture is very similar to our own and I am delighted to welcome them to the team. The deal adds strength and depth to our existing service lines and expands our global footprint in a new jurisdiction with excellent growth opportunities.’

Ethan Levner, Estera Group Head of Corporate Development, added: ‘This acquisition is consistent with our strategy to build a world-class service provider to private equity and real estate funds, multi-national corporates and individuals. Having a strong presence in Luxembourg is central to this and Headstart is well-positioned in the marketplace, having achieved much since its inception in 2009. We will continue to expand globally through the acquisition of like-minded firms that, in partnership, allow us to offer our combined client bases broad and deep expertise.’

This is the third acquisition this year made by Estera, which has offices in the Isle of Man, and following the competition of the acquisitions in late summer, subject to regulatory approvals, the business will employ more than 500 people across its global network.  

Christophe Gaul, Founder and Managing Director of Headstart S.a.r.l, also commented: ‘This is an exciting new chapter for our business and we are looking forward to working with Farah and the Estera team to build on the success we have already achieved in Luxembourg. For us it will remain business as usual: our clients will continue to receive the same personalised service from their existing client service teams, along with the added benefit of access to a new range of global services as part of the Estera group and considerable resources for further investment in the business.’

Advisers involved in this transaction included:

For Estera:  KPMG Luxembourg (Financial DD), Duff & Phelps (Regulatory DD), Travers Smith LLP  (Legal), Arendt & Medernach (Legal)
For Headstart S.a.r.l: Deloitte Luxembourg (M&A advisory), Allen & Overy (Legal)